U.S. beef sales top 200 tons in 4 days

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- Cuts of imported U.S. beef have been selling like
hotcakes since hitting shelves at major South Korean discount outlets, with sales
reaching over 200 tons in just four days, industry sources said Sunday.
The country's top three retailers -- E-Mart, Homeplus and Lottemart -- said their
combined sales of U.S. beef reached 205.4 tons as of Sunday afternoon.
The stores had earlier refrained from handling U.S. beef even after an import ban
was officially lifted in late June due to fears of a public backlash. They put
the meat on sale on Thursday.
South Korea banned all U.S. beef imports in December 2003 after a case of mad cow
disease was confirmed in Washington state. It began to allow imports of boneless
cuts in April 2007, but again halted quarantine inspections in October of that
year after backbones were discovered among the imports.
Seoul and Washington signed a revised sanitation agreement in April this year
that allowed most beef cuts to be imported with the exception of specified risk
materials, which include such parts as tonsils and certain parts of cattle
intestines.
The two governments later modified the deal to stipulate that all beef must be
from cattle under 30 months old following massive nationwide protests in South
Korea against the agreement.
Due to its cheaper price tag, South Korean consumers generally prefer U.S. beef
to Australian imports or domestic Hanwoo beef.
sam@yna.co.kr
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